Bill Gates + toilets + BSOD...I know there is a joke in there somewhere, I'm just too lazy to fish around for it. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation held a competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.5 billion people around the world who don't have access to modern sanitation. The world's next toilet must operate without running water, electricity or a septic system, not discharge pollutants, preferably capture energy or other resources, and operate at a cost of 5 cents a day.